A Court of Fire and Ash

Aelin

I fell.
There was no feeling.
Just this emptiness and darkness.
The emptiness I haven't felt for a long time.

But I never wanted to go back to this emptiness.
It was like I could nearly feel the mask on my face again.
The chains holding me down.
And her.
Smiling at me.
Torturing me, odering him to torture me.

I screamed against the emptiness trying to rip through it as I fell further.
There was no end, no escape.
My name is Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius and I will not be afraid.
I kept telling myself that and eventually I started believing it.
But then it stopped.

The darkness became light and it was so overwhelming that I had to close my eyes.
They were still closed, as I hit the ground hard.

I felt different.
My senses felt like they were numb.
Then I realized that I must have been turned back into my human form.

I wanted to check my surroundings, but I didn't know where I was and according to the screams that came from everywhere there were hundreds of people in the room.

I stayed quiet and acted like I was unconscious.
But then I felt that strange presence in my head a presence that I knew too well.

Was I back there?
Trapped in my darkest nightmare?
But Meave was dead.
I couldn't be.

The presence purred and and i could feel her trying to gain access to my head.
But I would never be weak again.
I couldn't do that to my people, my kingdom, to Rowan.
Anger struck me as I thought of him.
Someone had taken me away from him.

I tried reaching our bond, but I could only find silence.
Someone had taken him away.
I formed a dagger and cut away the darkness in my head.
It screamed as I stabbed it again and again and then it was finally gone.
I heard a male voice shouting.

„Silence!”
Like someone had turned all the noises off, it was quiet within a second.
The footsteps now coming in my direction must have belonged to that man-the leader.
So clamly, that no one would notice, I reached for my knive.

If he made the mistake to come too close to me I would defend myself.
If necessary against every single person in this room.
The steps stopped and I could feel him kneeling beside me.
He just had to lean in and check my breathing.
I could feel his warm breath on my cheek and then I felt warm skin turning my head in his direction.

This was my chance, my opportunity.
Faster than he could react I got to my feet, pulled my knive out and held it to his throat.

Then I allowed myself to look at him for the first time.
The first thing I noticed were his shining violet eyes.
They were filled with shock.
His contours were sharp and a certain elegance lay in the way he moved.
His raven black hair was decorated with a beautiful crown and there was a strange beauty to him that only Fae had.
A look at his ears showed me that he was exactly that.
But there was something about him that was different.
There were two large wings at his back.
As I took my time to look around the room I noticed a female Fae on a throne and two male Fae standing beside her who had the exact same wings.

Except for the size of the wings.
The Fae surrounded by a darkness that I knew too well had the biggest wings.

They were majestic and somehow I wanted to feel them on my skin.
I pushed my knive harder and I could see blood running down his throat.
I could hear the female Fae  screaming his name.
Rhys.

Wait.
I knew him.
I had seen him and the female Fae, when I forged the lock.
They helped me return to my mate.
Did they have anything to do with me being here?

„Tell me why I am here.”
His eyes filled with confusion.
„I would love to answer that, sweetheart but I was asking myself the same thing.”
I growled at him and grapped his throat.

There was no way I was going to reveal my identity so if I wanted to make them believe I was Celaena Sardothien I had to act like she would have.

He must have been shocked by my strength cause he didn't fight back.
„Well let us try that again. What am-”
I felt the presence behind me let go of Rhys and dropped to the floor.
I rolled up to see the Fae with the majestic wings standing in front of me, he placed himself in front of Rhys and I didn't hesitate.

I aimed for his head and tried kicking his stomach at the same time.
He dodged and and rolled away but my leg still hit his.
I knew I could win this fight.
I could tell that he was well trained but he hadn't been trained by the King of assassins.

I attacked him with a few brutal moves but he blocked all of them.
Just as I wanted to attack again I saw a blue light surrounding him.

I could feel his magic floating around him.
I wouldn't be stupid.
And attacking a power I didn't know was just that.
So I switched to defense and let him attack.

His hits were well placed but I could block all of them easily.

Suddenly daggers made off red light were pointed in my direction.
I dodged away but couldn't escape the one aimed for my cheek.

I knew he needed a second to prepare his next attack, so I used that second, stayed low and kicked his legs away.
He tried to catch himself but I wouldn't let him take that chance.
I was over him in no time and hit him with the my dagger.
He went unconscious and blood dripped on the floor.

„If anyone would like to try his luck too, please go ahead. Or you could simply answer my question.”
Suddenly the female Fae was by Rhys side.
She came closer with her hands held in the air.
„We mean you no harm. We would like to answer your questions, just that we don't have the answers. But I'm sure we can settle on something.”

I shouldn't have let myself get distracted by her pretty words.
Or I should have kept my eyes on the second male Fae.
But the next second there were chains wrapped around my wrists.
I tried fighting them off but it was pointless.

Rhys voice echoed through the hall.
„Now that we've made sure you can't do us any harm, how about you answer our questions first.”
I smiled at him viciously.
„Go to hell.”
He nodded to the Fae, who had tied me and then my world went black.